Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 3 Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting game developed by Midway and released in 1995, first as an arcade game. It is the third game in the Mortal Kombat series. MK3 was later updated into Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the arcade and home consoles, and later Mortal Kombat Trilogy for home consoles only. Gameplay Mortal Kombat 3 builds further on the gameplay of the previous game. A "Run" button, accompanied by a "Run" meter, was introduced. This was primarily to address concern from fans who thought that the previous games gave too much of an advantage to the defending player. The Run meter is drained by running (the character cannot run backwards, only forwards) and by performing combos. "Chain combos", also known as pre-programmed combos (labeled "dial-a-combos") were also introduced. Chain combos are preprogrammed button presses that cannot be interrupted once one hit connects (e.g., one of Sonya's chain combos is HK-HK-HP-HP-LP-b+HP). Some chain combos end with an uppercut or other move that knocks the opponent into the air, so that more punishment can be dealt via a traditional juggle combo. To please players of various skill levels, a "Choose Your Destiny" screen appears in 1-player mode. This new feature allowed player-selectable difficulty. For the first time, certain levels were interactive by allowing characters to be uppercutted through the ceiling where both characters would continue the battle in a different stage. This could alter the game's level cycle. Both normal uppercuts and uppercuts that are part of a ground combo would result in a level change. Kung Lao's "Whirl Wind Spin" move would also have the same effect. However, if the final hit of a round happens to be an uppercut (i.e., the character is defeated by an uppercut), there is no level change. All of the different style of finishing moves featured in Mortal Kombat II (Fatalities, including their non-lethal Babality and Friendship version) return in MK3 but this time the announcer saying "Friendship! Friendship?!" was changed to "Friendship! Friendship?! Again?!". Additionally, the long rumored Animality, where the character transforms into an animal in order to kill their opponent, is featured for the first time. Another new addition is the Mercy, where the character can give their opponent a small sliver of life if they have won two rounds and are at the "Finish Him/Her" screen. It is necessary that a Mercy is performed for an Animality to occur. Finally, three new stage Fatalities can be performed in the Subway, the Bell Tower, and the Pit 3. Another concept introduced in this game are the "Kombat Kodes". These were 6-symbol codes entered at the VS screen in a two player game, to modify gameplay, fight hidden characters or display certain text messages. Also introduced in this game was the "Ultimate Kombat Kode", using a 10 character code using symbols, that could be entered after the continue screen disappears in single player mode. If the correct code was entered, an animation would be shown flashing the kombat zones in quick succession and Smoke would become a permanent playable character. The arcade owner, however, could reset this code by accessing the game's diagnostic menu by toggling a DIP switch within the MK3 cabinet. Smoke can be unlocked by either the player or the arcade operator. The game's overall style was envisioned differently than in the previous Mortal Kombat games. Opposed to the heavily Oriental themes of Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, MK3's theme is much more Western contemporary. The game's stages are set in modern locations, three of the characters are cyborgs, and traditional character designs (such as Sub-Zero's or Kano's) have been dropped or modified in favor of modern replacements. The overall game has a much darker tone than its predecessors, and uses a noticeable darker and less vibrant color palette. Characters are now heavily digitized (as opposed to the hybrid digitized/hand-drawn style of MKII.) Many of the game's backgrounds are now, for the first time, created using pre-rendered 3D graphics. This change is also reflected in the sound track, in which all Oriental motifs have been dropped in favor of modern instrumentation. Characters 'New characters' Cyrax (Sal Divita) - Lin Kuei cyber assassin. Kabal (Richard Divizio) - Former Black Dragon warrior. Nightwolf (Sal Divita) - Native American shaman. Sektor (Sal Divita) - Lin Kuei cyber assassin. Sindel (Lia Montelongo) - Resurrected Queen of Edenia who is being controlled by Shao Kahn. Sheeva (Stop motion) - Female Shokan who serves Shao Kahn. Stryker (Michael O'Brien) - Riot control officer. 'Returning characters' Jax (John Parrish) - Special Forces major who joins Sonya in attempting to apprehend Kano. Kano (Richard Divizio) - Black Dragon thug who escaped arrest by Sonya and Jax. Kung Lao (Tony Marquez) - Shaolin monk who seeks to stop what Kahn is planning. Liu Kang (Eddie Wong) - Returning Mortal Kombat champion. Sonya Blade (Kerri Hoskins) - Special Forces lieutenant setting out again to capture Kano. Sub-Zero (John Turk) - Rogue Lin Kuei ninja who fled the clan after refusing to be converted to a cybernetic unit. Shang Tsung (John Turk) - Shao Kahn's devious sorcerer. Smoke (Sal Divita) - Cyber assassin from the Lin Kuei, who was once a close friend of Sub-Zero (unlocked by Ultimate Kombat Kode). 'Boss and sub-boss' Motaro (stop-motion) - A four-legged Centaur. Shao Kahn (Brian Glynn, voiced by Steve Ritchie) - Emperor of Outworld. Although the game's manual states both boss characters are unplayable, both Motaro and Shao Kahn can be enabled via secret cheat menus in both SNES and Sega versions of the game. Other characters Noob Saibot (Richard Divizio; unlockable as a non-player, Kano-resembling character through the Kombat Kodes) - The undead original Sub-Zero.